Photos By Tommy Gilligan: Syracuse Tops Duke 13-11 At The BCC

More photographic gold from the Big City Classic! This time Cuse downed Duke 13-11 in a game that started with Cuse coming out hot. They looked dominant early on in their white helmets, orange jerseys and white shorts. Ponytail braids, visors, orange chrome heads… Cuse was swagging. Duke rocked an all black look and complimented it with neon green chinstraps and a lot of their guys rocked neon green shafts. A nice touch.

This game could very easily have been a preview of the National Championship. Some, like Quint Kessenich, are dropping Duke to outside the Top 5 after this loss, but I think that’s kind of hard to do. The Dookies looked good (at times) on Sunday, even though they started really slow and didn’t get going at all until the second half, when they were already down 9-2. The fact that they came back and made it a somewhat competitive game speaks to their potential later in the season, as they never gave in. I like that in a team! Does Duke have some work to do? No doubt. But the pieces are there and a tough ACC tourney will have them battle tested if they are performing well.

It seems crazy to think they could make it back to the NC game, but I could see it happening. Of course, the other 3 ACC schools are all pretty potent too, so who knows?